1. Field
The following description relates to components that may be applied to an affective device such as a robot, a virtual character, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently there has been an increasing interest in robots that can imitate human behavior. Such robots may be described as “affective robots” that are developed to exhibit specific emotions in response to external stimuli and make specific expressions or motions related to the emotions. To achieve this function, generally, an affective robot has a predetermined affective model.
The affective robot may perform a specific behavior in response to a stimulus based on the state of its affective model. In other words, an affective model may be used to reflect the emotional state of the corresponding affective robot. For example, as humans have different reactions in response to the same stimulus depending on their emotional state, an affective robot may also exhibit different reactions in response to the same stimulus according to the state of its affective model.
Such an affective model may be composed of various affective components. The behaviors of an affective robot may be based on an affective model that includes a predetermined combination of affective components.